Chapter 44
Sy
Something was wrong.
I could feel it in the depths of my soul.
The sky had been darkening since morning, heavy with a pressure that crawled along my skin.
A storm gathering without clouds.
A warning without sound.
And Seph.
My little one.
Something was wrong.
I lifted my gaze to the gods, as if any of them still bothered to look back.
Then — like a breath pressed against my mind —
a whisper.
A name.
Echo.
“Echo,” I murmured aloud.
The name landed in my ribs. I felt it, like I felt her.
The air shifted in answer.
Find her.
Before the thought fully formed, my body was already moving.
Bones cracked.
Skin burned.
The world folded around me as I shifted, scales consuming flesh and light and memory.
In seconds, the man was gone.
And the dragon stood in his place.
Black scales rippled like oil under the dying sun.
Heat simmered in my lungs.
My wings unfurled — vast, ancient things that blotted out the light as they stretched.
The moment my talons touched the earth, I felt her.
Faint.
Distant.
Smothered beneath fear and hands that were not hers.
Seph.
My Seph.
A low growl rumbled through my throat, vibrating the stones at my feet.
I lowered my head, nostrils flaring, scenting the wind.
And with it — another breath.
A flicker of her soul.
Echo.
The little presence drifted at the edge of my senses, frantic and luminous, calling to me with a desperation that sliced through my ribs.
Help her.
Help her.
Help her.
I launched into the sky.
Wings snapped open and caught the wind, hurling my body upward in a burst of force that shook the treeline.
Trees bent beneath the gust.
Birds scattered like shadows.
From above, the school sprawled beneath me — a fortress cracking under pressure.
And then I saw it.
The wave.
Ferals.
Hundreds.
Running full-speed toward the walls like a flood sent by the gods themselves.
Drawn by her power.
Or her fear.
Or the hole she had left in the world when she screamed.
My chest burned.
Not with flame.
With rage.
I angled downward, power surging through my veins, preparing to cut through the horde like a blade made of storm and fury.
I will not fail you, Little one.